Are you excited about the LG G5? Well... if you've been reading Android Police for the past 24 hours, then you've likely forgotten about this year's MWC flagships because it's all about Android N (#N4LYFE) and the Galaxy S7 and LG G5 will only ship with Marshmallow. Who remembers Marshmallow now? Oh you do? Right on, let's back to the G5 then.

When the device was announced at MWC, the most major US operators rushed to tell us that they'll be offering it on their network. What they didn't reveal though was an exact price or release date beyond a vague "spring" timeline. The latter information is now available thanks to a press release and new landing page from LG. The company is eager to tell you that you can, pretty please, "wait a few weeks" and not buy the Galaxy S7 until early April because that's when the G5 and its Friends will be released.

It will come to AT&T, Verizon, U.S. Cellular, T-Mobile, Sprint, B&H, Best Buy, and Best Buy Mobile Stores. There's still no exact price or details on which carriers will offer which Friends, but you can sign up to be reminded of the phone's launch at the G5's new landing page.

LG isn't offering a free LG 360 VR unit with each order or pre-order, but for a limited time, you'll be able to get a free second battery and its charging cradle for free with the purchase. That's a nice bonus if you're the kind who runs through their battery in half a day and want to have a spare at hand at all times.

Press Release

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., March 10, 2016 – On the heels of being awarded the Best New Smartphone at the 2016 Mobile World Congress (MWC) last month, LG Electronics announced today that LG G5 smartphone is officially coming to the United States in early April via major carriers and retailers, including AT&T, Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile Stores, B&H, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon.

The LG G5 introduces a paradigm-shifting modular design that allows for a collection of companion devices, called “LG Friends,” to plug in and transform the LG G5 into a DSLR style camera, a mobile virtual reality viewer and more. Select companion devices and sales channels will also be available starting in April.

The LG G5’s sleek aluminum body and modular type design that allows consumers to easily swap out a depleted battery for a fully charged one in just seconds – a feature other major handset manufacturers do not offer. For a limited time only, LG is celebrating this innovation by rewarding customers that order LG G5 with a free extra battery and battery-charging cradle*.

“You only have to wait a few weeks to get your hands on the LG G5. It’s clear from the consumer polls being conducted by the media that people are incredibly excited about the phone and we’re very proud of the practical innovations in the G5 and Friends as well,” said Morris Lee, LG Electronics MobileComm’s senior vice president and head of North American sales and marketing. “The rave responses to the LG G5 from the press and the industry are proof that the smartphone is exciting again and it is obvious that the LG G5 is well worth waiting for.”

Accumulating a total of 33 awards at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016, the LG G5 and LG Friends secured LG Electronics’ status as one of the most honored companies at the show.

Details about the LG G5 and LG Friends’ pricing and availability are to be announced in the coming weeks.

*For more information about the new LG G5 and the promotion, please visit: http://www.lgg5launchpromo.com.

Comments

Mayoo

#N4LYFE

ClearlyYoureWrong

#N4NOW #UNTILOISOUT

jonathan3579

Pretty weak offering compared to Samsung, in my opinion.

ClearlyYoureWrong

Different price point. Different target market.

jonathan3579

Although I'm sure it'll be cheaper, pricing hasn't been announced so I'll have to ignore that part. As for the target market, would that be people who want smaller swappable batteries? I suppose you're right.

T4rd

As it was for all the G phones before it, I'm sure this phone will be severely discounted in a matter of a few months too. G2/3/4s were going for $400 (so even less used) or free on contract pretty soon after launch.

jonathan3579

Agreed. I'm not sure why but LG definitely has some of the worst value around. Samsung's value started dropping pretty badly after the Note 4. I'm not sure how it's held up since.

Prezes Dyrektor

I think it's not market value but rather strategy and competing with price. Obviously LG doesn't have the same brand awareness as Shitsung, so they try to break in by whatever means necessary, while the other Korean brand is comfortable selling the phones at premium. Just my observation. Btw i think the nexus program helped lg a lot to get more recognition in the market.

MJ

Agree 100%. I have no interest in a Gear VR but it can be sold on eBay easy enough for some quick cash. Oh wait, I didn't buy a S7 because I have no interest in that either...

FD

Started reading #N4... and got all nostalgic about my Nexus 4

ClearlyYoureWrong

That phone! Best. Ergonomics. Ever.

RIP :(

Jem

Meh. I had the LG G4. Hardware flaw on the main board really pushed me off their products (I had the G2 and G4). I moved over to the Nexus 6P and won't be going back. Amazing device. Also, this is the same offering they gave for the G4 so I'm not surprised. While it was nice having a second battery, I'm much happier with a device that is way faster at all tasks. The LG G4 lagged way too much.

Starcube

Can't wait for people to start whining how the removable bottom is loose or their battery randomly pops out, or that they broke or lost the bottom.

wewewi

Rest assured that the battery will always be left over in the cradle when you'll need it..

ClearlyYoureWrong

what

operator207

The battery will be left where you were charging it when you need it. It will be left at home on your counter, when you need it at an after work party across town.

Zero Mizukami

Who remembers Marshmallow now? Oh you do?

I haven't even gotten to use Marshmallow yet :C

Phone and tablet are both on 5.1.1, and my phone hasn't even been officially updated last 4.4.2 (thanks unofficial Blisspop). I hope my Tab S2 at least gets N, a lot of the features seem to be perfect for tablets

TylerChappell

The original Galaxy Tab S from June 2014 is still on 5.0.2 despite 5.1.1 coming out a year ago so I wouldn't get your hopes up. -_-

Stocklone

I'm still bitter about that too.

TylerChappell

Yeah, it was a $550 tablet (32GB Best Buy model), there's no excuse for it not to have 6.0.1 by now, or 5.1.1 in the very least. They've been extremely lazy with it, only doing a minor security update.

Prezes Dyrektor

Marshmallow represents 2% market share iirc

Adil Tajgeer

if they really wanted to offer something that would spur sales, they should offer one friend module of your choosing instead of this.

at least then when they abandon the modules with the G6, they'll have moved some inventory.

p0k3y

Not a bad phone, having owned G3 and G4. But I am sticking with my 6P now. I don't think I will ever buy a phone that doesn't work on all carrier bands any more. So it may be down to Nexus and iphone for me in the future, until LG and Samsung get on board of that.

GreatNews

Rita you forgot to mention in teh article that also Sprint will carry the phone

duke69111

It's too bad that the G5's battery is not hot swappable. If it had a small internal 100mah battery inside of the phone that would keep it running while you change out the removable battery would be a useful feature for the bottom pullout battery.

operator207

While is sounds cool, my experiences with that "feature" on Lenovo Laptops put a sour taste in my mouth. The internal battery's firmware sucks, bricking the laptop if it fails. Sometimes you can reset it via a pin hole in the bottom of the laptop. Most times, it requires a tech to replace parts before it will boot again.

If they can "do it right", cool, but I am not 100% on the tech from my (admittedly non-phone) experiences over the last couple years.

Charlie

They figured out that very few people actually shell out extra for an extra battery. The average consumer doesn't anyways. And they figured out that it's quite annoying to have to batteries and no external charging cradle to actually charge the extra battery with. I've been there.

I'm definitely a bit of a sceptic when it comes to the G5 and it's modularity. But even the battery switching thing seems forced. LG needs to convince people that it's a great idea and that it's really handy, so they are just giving away batteries and cradles. Seems more like trying to force something to believe it's a great idea, because on it's own, naturally, it's mediocre at best. How many average consumers bought an extra spare battery for their "daily driver" the last two years. I wish we had some statistics on the matter.